To start off this summer I was blessed with the opportunity to be home in Minnesota for a few scattered weeks here and there. But I spent a good two months as a live-in nanny in Highland Park. The two boys I watched kept me busy, but it was also a nice time to transition from my life in Costa Rica.
 |
| Two of my favorite little crazies |
A few weeks later I was able to spend a quality, fun-crazy filled weekend with my college friends up North in MN at a friend's cabin. This is our 2nd year and I'm hoping it becomes a summer tradition. We spent time on the lake (a few people, whom I will not disclose, got some major sun), rocked out in the convertible to the Beach Boys, went cliff jumping in the St. Croix River, ate s'mores around the campfire, and just enjoyed great Christian community. I feel so blessed with all the amazing friends God has placed in my life. |
| Alex fearlessly jumping into the deep |
 | |||||||
| Opening Olympics...with our human antenna ;) |
But it isn't a summer without some Osborn Opportunities thrown in, so sit back and get ready for some OO tales:
Throughout the summer I was raising support and preparing/lesson planning to teach at an ESL (English as a Second Language) camp in Montreal, Canada.
Back when I was student teaching in Costa Rica, my college pastor contacted me and asked if I would pray about being part of a mission trip to teach English in Montreal. My 1st thought was "No. I will just be getting back from four months in Costa Rica and even though it isn't until August I will need to be available for job interviews." Well, God had a different plan. He reminded me that HE is in control and He would provide a job for me in His timing. So I hopped on board!
I was able to raise all of my support and the training happened to line up when I was in Illinois, so things were running smoothly. And then came the drive back to Illinois.
I had been in Minnesota, as well as my best friend Bethany, and we were both going to Montreal, but the rest of the team were leaving from Illinois, so we decided to drive out to Illinois. If you are even remotely familiar with my family you will know we have Osborn Opportunities. Basically an optimistic way to say we have some sort of crisis/car break down when we go on trips. And this trip was no exception.
Yes, that is my lovely Buick, Park Avenue car on the computer screen of the Loft Towing Company truck. Pretty cool technology, but rather unfortunate that I had to find out about it through this experience.
Bethany and I had been doing great on the trip when we came upon stopped traffic after Eau Claire Wisconsin and my car just decided to stop completely. And by stopped I mean died. It really seemed like it wanted to start back up again but was just too tired.
I quickly pushed good 'ol Ruby to the side of the road and called American Family Insurance to get towed. Bethany had a great attitude about the whole situation, and I felt surprisingly calm. Thank you God and thank you for a best friend to share the experience! We were towed to Osseo, WI where my dad had called a local pastor and his wife came and picked us up and took us home. Larry was the pastor and his hilarious wife, Freddie (we never found out her real name).
They let us stay in their attic and the next day we were able to find out what was wrong with my car. Praise the Lord that we left a day early. Originally we were going to leave Friday, and arrive Friday evening (in time to leave with the group for Montreal), but we left a day early and that ended up being a tremendous blessing because we had the extra room to get the car fixed.
Turns out there was 5 gallons of WATER in my gas tank. I am still not sure how it got there. But I have my suspicions. Two days before I left home my car and my brothers car were egged. Along with a huge fireworks display in our front yard, which some kids set off at midnight. The next day my car had sandwich pieces all over it and the hooligans had knocked over Josh's wood pile in the backyard. Rude! So maybe they tried to be funny and put water in the gas tank, but that isn't funny. Only God knows. I am just thankful we were kept safe and my car was able to get back on the road.
 |
| Crossing the bridge into Canada! |
Bethany and I made it to Illinois on time. We didn't arrive in time to leave with the whole group, but there was a later car leaving at 5pm, with two open spots, so we were able to make it in time to leave with them. God provides.
The next day we had a full traveling day, but we made a pit stop at Niagara Falls. I have been to Niagara Falls on the New York Side, but I have never viewed them from Canada, and it was amazing! Especially since we got to take a ride on the Mermaid of the Mist and really experience the majesty of the falls.
 |
| We became a part of the blue crew |
 | ||||
| Just a little damp after passing by the falls |
 |
| The three amigos |
But Osborn Opportunities are plural for a reason,
as Bethany and I spent another part of our traveling
day on the side of the road.
As I previously mentioned, Bethany and I had to go in the late vehicle when we arrived in Illinois, because the other three vans left earlier. The vehicle we ended up in happened to also be pulling the trailer.
Sometime after lunch our college/career pastor took over driving the trailer, so our faithful driver, Joe, could catch some zzz's. However, not even 5 minutes after he started driving we felt a tug and found ourselves on the side of the road with a popped tire on the trailer. Thankfully they had a spare, so our manly men quick popped on the spare and we continued onward. But once again that stubborn trailer decided to put a stop to our travels and the spare tire popped. At that point it was about 10-11pm at night and we were only an hour or two away from our final destination. Bethany and I hopped in the other vans and two of the guys stayed back to wait for a new tire.
We arrived at the church in Montreal around midnight and were greeted by the church pastor, the youth pastor, and a few other church men/missionaries. We quickly set up our beds, boys upstairs and girls downstairs, and fell fast asleep.
Sunday we had the privilege of attending the church service. The service was translated from French to English and it was amazing to once again worship with fellow believers who spoke a different language. Brought me back to my church experiences in Costa Rica :)
For lunch they ordered us this chicken meal, which came from a chicken delivery car and was delicious! It was a good meal before we began to buckle down and get everything ready for the camp.
And the work began:
 |
| We had an AMAZING kitchen staff, who fed us well and were super prepared! |
 |
| Tasks were delegated and the work began to get done |
 |
| Sony & Judy were the other two teachers, who I appreciated greatly! |
 | ||||
| Look at that smile! Work can be fun when you have such a great team and attitude :) |
Sunday was over before we knew it. Monday appeared and with that appearance came the slow but steady stream of students.
 | ||
| Shekima and Marie France-Two godly Montreal girls who basically became a part of our team and worked with us during our time at the camp. |
We started off the camp with a testing session, so we could place the students in a classroom that was at their level. Praise God that we were able to organize the testing in a manner that allowed us to finish in an hour.
Next, the teachers and a few other members gathered and divided up the students into three classrooms: Beginners (Spiderman), Intermediate (Batman), and Advanced (Superman). We also divided up the students with a buddy (a member from out team). Some of the students had to share a buddy with another student, since we didn't have 22 buddies for the 22 students, but God was at work because the buddies really connected with their students. Here is what a typical day looked like at the camp:
7:30 AM we were eating breakfast and slowly waking up (Before this time some people would go shower at the local gym, and I liked to get up early to spend some time in the Word)
8:30 AM Devotions! Spiritual food provided by some of the leaders on the team. They were very encouraging and a great way to start off each day as a team.
9AM Students began to arrive and the buddies/whoever was available would go outside and play
Here are some of the activities: Frisbee, Velcro catch, street hockey, four square, etc...
9:10 AM Opening Session. This was one of my favorite parts in the morning because all the students would come and listen to a skit, which highlighted the theme of the day, and also watch a 25 minute movie. *The skits and movies were outstanding!*
 |
| All 22 campers watching a movie on Harriet Tubman |
 |
| My class clowns :) There was definitely no time for sleeping in my class! |
 |
| The buddies stayed in the classroom and were a great help with the students! |
The church was pretty small and this was also true for my classroom, but we were able to work with the space. One way we made it work was by crawling over or under the tables to get out. My classroom was basically a little jungle/playground.
I was able to realize quickly that my students loved to act...partly because I had a few hilarious characters in the classroom who loved making others laugh. But it was the perfect opportunity for fun and learning. The campers were able to write their own dialogues and work with partners to present their skits to their classmates.
10:30 AM Snack. As I mentioned before we were blessed with a few members of our team who really knew how to cook! The 1st day they made chocolate chip cookies and they were a major hit. My favorite little story was of little Susie who came back for another cookie. Leader: "You each could have two cookies before why did you only take one?"Susie: "Last week the cookies weren't good, but these are really good! Are we going to have cookies every day?" Adorable!
And I'm pretty sure we did end up having cookies for snack every day.
10:45-Noon GAMES!!! A good chunk of the day was devoted to games and they were super fun games!
This game was called "Human Connect Four." The campers had plates with X's or O's and they had to rush to the wall, stick their plate in a square, and try to get four in a row.
I don't remember the name of this game but I believe it was something to the tune of "Chocolate Marshmallow Madness." The campers were divided into three groups and they had to dip a marshmallow in chocolate sauce and then try to have it land in their teammates mouth.
And it was not chubby bunny style ;) So the campers could discard the marshmallow once they caught it in their mouth.
There were some chocolatey faces after this game!
 | |||||
| And the campers loved licking up the extra chocolate sauce! |
A few days after they were all dry we had the campers paint them and they turned out really cool!
I took pictures of the campers with their finished angry birds/angry pigs and made them do an angry face :)
One of the best parts with these angry birds is that the campers got to launch them with actual water balloons inside of the birds on the last day! We let the campers decide if they wanted to take their angry bird/pig home or launch it in the park. Quite a few of the campers wanted to launch their angry bird, so it was great :)
 |
| The park where we launched the birds. A group of students and their angry birds tried to catch the birds, so they are off in the distant. |
 |
| In order to get them far you had to pull it all the way to the ground. |
 |
| Almost caught the bird! |
 |
| Incoming bird! |
 |
| Extra fun games- we also did the human knot! |
 |
| Campers had to eat a banana through nylon. Quite entertaining. |
 |
| This was painful to watch, but our campers clipped as many clothespins to their leader as possible. |
 | |||||||
| The campers had to answer questions fast! |
 |
| Nothing gets campers moving like a good game of Ultimate! |
 |
| A wet but fun experience! |
 |
| Chilling in the church yard |
1:00 PM 2nd Class Session. We had a total of two class sessions during the day and they flew by so fast! On the last day we talked about Alexander Graham Bell and how he was an inventor. The campers were able to make their own inventions and present them to the group
2:15 PM Snack again, more games and at 4:00 PM we said good-bye!
We debriefed as a group after each day and then got ready to explore the city or chill at the church.
There were only two exceptions to this schedule routine (overall we were very flexible)
1. We took the campers on an all day outing to Arbaska (on Wednesday)
Pictures will best describe this event, but it was AMAZING! Here is a quick little description:
"Less than 40 minutes from Montréal, six aerial courses (easy to
extreme), five mega ziplines ranging from 120 to 210 m (400 to 700 ft.),
a GPS rally and a nature-interpretation path on a suspension bridge.
The longest and highest extreme course in Québec." 
 |
| Happy buddy and camper :) |
We were blessed to work alongside the youth pastor who helped start this camp and has been faithfully contributing to the camp each year in numerous ways.
He is also a rather humorous fellow and we had a lot of fun with him and his wife.
After this crazy course he decided to stick on the ground and take pictures of everyone ;)
 |
| Brotherly love. |
 |
| Fun times! |
 |
| Crazy Tarzan swing- pretty sure I held my breath as I swung across! |
 |
| Swiss Family Robinson Residency ;) |
The last exception for the schedule was Friday's banquet. We spent a full week with the campers but we threw a banquet on the night of the last day of camp. This was our opportunity to really shine God's light because we were free to share the gospel and talk about God with the parents of our campers.
A few members from our team put together a short slideshow of pictures for each camper and one at a time the
camper was called to the front of the stage and his/her buddy talked about a special characteristic(s) that they saw in this camper during his/her time at camp and awarded the camper with a certificate recognizing this characteristic in the camper.
Parents were touched, one mother bawled her eyes out the whole time (reminded me of my mom ;), and it was a really special night.
A few more random pictures and explanations and I'll try and wrap up this novel.
 |
| One night we traveled to Old Montreal, which was basically like walking around in Europe...not that I've ever had the privilege of doing that, but that is what I was told. |
 |
| We got to take the subway into downtown Montreal to have dinner one night. |
This was our dinner outing meal, which was an authentic Canadian dish "poutin." I was not a big fan of poutin- basically it is french fries with a light gravy poured over the top, sprinkled with squeaky cheese.
However, we also had their smoked sandwich, and that was soooo good!
 |
| Bethany and I downtown Montreal- the city was super quiet and clean...bit of a shock compared to Chicago or New York City :) |
 |
| Met this old woman on the subway and she enjoyed reciting her poetry to one of our team members :) |
 |
| Yes, I can say that I swam in a Olympic training pool! *This pool was used back in the summer Olympics of 1976* |
And that is a pretty good summary of my trip to Montreal! God really blessed our team and the overall trip. I couldn't help but read and think about Paul's words from 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free —and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body."
As I watched and interacted with my fellow brother and sisters in Christ I truly saw the body of Christ. We were all unified in the goal of serving Christ by giving all we had to work with these campers. It was not easy and there were difficulties, but God gave us exactly what we needed to keep going strong. I felt deeply encouraged by everyone on the team and proud to be a part of such a God honoring team. Just a small glimpse at the Christian community I will one day be surrounded with in heaven. And it was such a testimony to the faithful prayer warriors that were supporting me and the whole team. As well as the financial support I was blessed to have!
And last but not least I want to briefly share what God has recently laid on my heart.
Hip hopping around this summer was not easy. I kept waiting to hear back from schools, but the interview calls never came (one did from Indiana, but they started school when I was in Canada). The week before I left for Canada I was really frustrated.
I am a very organized person and I like to have things figured out. Originally I was hoping to have a job, housing, and everything figured out by the time I left for Canada, but that was not on track with God's plan. I packed up my car with my important belongings and headed off for Canada.
Before I left I remember secretly lifting up two prayer requests: "God-I don't know how, but I know you are all powerful so could you please provide me with a job while I'm in Canada. And could you also confirm this desire I have to possibly teach overseas/do missions work." I say "secret"because I was never sure if missions is something God has called me to. I LOVE serving God in any way possible, but growing up as a PK (pastor's kid) I have especially enjoyed being a part of the church and making the gospel run.
Wellll...during the trip I kept these two requests in the back of my mind. And during the week God spoke to me through two different people. The 1st one happened after a long day of camp. Some of us were relaxing on the front porch of the church and Joe (an older gentleman on the trip who has a daughter my age) asked me "Rachel, what would you think of teaching in Bogotá?" I told him I was open to teaching anywhere, but I honestly did not know where Bogotá was. He explained that it was a school our church (The Orchard Evangelical Free Church) supported in Columbia. They had just sent two teachers to teach at this school and he thought I would be a good fit. Here is a map for all of you visual people (which includes me!)
As you can see it is right under Panama, so it is not too far away from where I was just stationed: Costa Rica, and they speak Spanish too. Bogotá is the capital of Columbia. The school I could possibly teach at is called El Camino Academy (The Road Academy).
I will be skyping one of the teachers from this school later this weekend, but it is certainly something to be praying about. I would need to raise my own support, and I believe it is a two year commitment, so I would look at going next school year.
The second part of my request was asking God if He wants me to pursue missions/teaching overseas. And I heard Him speak to me when one of the missionaries, Jay Penny, was talking to us. I can't remember exactly what he said but I believe it was when he was praying with us and said if God has stirred your heart with a passion for missions you need to obey and listen.
Right then I felt my soul flutter and burn with a Holy fire. Reminded me of the men on the road to Emmaus and the men as they said, " Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" Luke 24:32 I was not with those men, but I feel like I experienced this burning heart symptom.
And it only seemed to be confirmed as I read my weekly chapter of "Not a Fan" today. This summer I've had the tremendous blessing of reading a chapter of "Not a Fan" by Idleman each week and discussing it with one of my closest friends. The premise of the book is taking a deeper look at your walk with God and deciding if you are just a fan or an all-in follower. I've been challenged, but today it really struck home. Chapter 13 is titled "Wherever. What about there?"
Upon my return back to Illinois I felt torn between just heading back home to MN or trying to stick around here and find a job. One of the biggest difficulties is that I don't really have a permanent home here. But God seemed to be opening doors, and the day after I arrived back I got my 1st call for an interview the next day.
I find out next week if this pre-school teaching job is the one for me, but today I took a deeper look at some of the mixed feelings I've been struggling with and discovered Jesus underwent the same things. Jesus was homeless. That is something I've commented on a lot lately, as I've hopped from various homes. God has blessed me with a wonderful community of friends, but it has still been hard to take one day at a time. I could've been comfortably home in MN, but instead I chose to listen to God.
One of my favorite stories is about Anne Judson. She was the wife of American first foreign missionary, Adoniram Judson. Adoniram wanted to marry Anne and move to Burma to spread the gospel, but before he married her he wrote her father the following letter asking for her hand in marriage:
"I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of him who left his heavenly home and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteousness?"
Her father told him that it was Anne's decision to make. As Anne thought about this decision she wrote the following note to her friend Lydia Kimball:
"I feel willing, and expect, if nothing in Providence prevents, to spend my days in this world in heathen lands. Yes, Lydia, I have about come to the determination to give up all my comforts and enjoyments here, sacrifice my affection to relatives and friends, and go where God, in his Providence, shall see fit to place me."
*Taken from "Not a Fan"by Kyle Idleman. Page 179.*
Wow. Kyle always ends his chapters with "not a fan"stories. I wrote my own "not a fan"story in the back of my book, and if you are interested in telling me yours I would love to share mine with you. I might just share it with you anyways if you ask ;)
Needless to say God is at work in my life. He is at work all around us. But sometimes you need to stop and listen to Him.
I'm excited to continue on with my Great Provider and watch the plans He has for my life unfold. I am His and He is mine. These may be uncertain times in my life but I am embracing them as I focus on the one steadfast certainty in my life!
